NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — North Platte officials have appealed to the Postal Regulatory Commission not to move retail services and post office boxes out of the downtown to a mail distribution center on the southeast side of town.

A letter of appeal was sent to Washington, D.C., on Friday.

The city says in its letter that the U.S. Postal Service didn’t hold a public hearing required for the relocation and did not first look for a building downtown before deciding on the mail distribution center. Postal officials have said a Dec. 16 council meeting counted as a public hearing.

The letter also states that the city characterizes the service changes as “a consolidation,” which the city says requires the Postal Service to consider possible effects on a community.

Click HERE to see the letter.